Yves Bissouma, it has been a pleasure
The day when Yves Bissouma flew the Brighton nest was always going to come eventually. For some time, it has been obvious that the midfielder was destined to move onto bigger and better things than the Albion.
Spurs is set to be Bissouma’s next destination for a fee of around £30 million with various add-ons. He is a £60 million player at the very least but Tony Bloom has had his hand forced, knowing that if he does not sell this summer than Bissouma could walk on a free next year. Tottenham have themselves a bargain as a result.
Looking back at the Brighton career of Yves Bissouma as he prepares to leave makes you feel more like a proud parent than a football fan.
Like a stroppy teenager who goes onto leave university with a first class degree, we have watched Bissouma grow and develop from an inconsistent and immature central midfielder into one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League.
At risk of sounding like a contestant on the X Factor, it has been quite the journey. Alongside Bissouma’s infectious personality which manifests itself in dancing on the pitch and enjoying every single win as if he is a Brighton supporter, this explains his near-universal popularity amongst Albion fans.
We have been on the journey with him, witnessed him blossom and can take a great sense of satisfaction in the part Brighton have played in helping Bissouma fulfil his potential.
Taking rough diamonds, polishing them into players coveted by the biggest clubs in the world and selling them on for profit is now the Albion’s modus operandi.
Bissouma and Ben White have shown us it can be an enjoyable way to go about things, enabling Brighton fans to witness players destined for greatness and play a part in their development well as being extremely healthy for the club’s balance sheets
From the moment Bissouma arrived at the Amex in the summer of 2018, it was obvious he had talent. In one of his first appearances in an Albion shirt, he scored a thunderbastard free kick from 30 yards away at Birmingham City in a pre-season friendly.
It was the sort of strike we had not seen a Brighton player produce for many years. It hinted at a player who had goals in him, one who would offer a more dynamic and attacking threat than Davy Propper and Dale Stephens to revolutionise Chris Hughton’s midfield and turn the Albion into a more positive team.
That never really happened though, not in Bissouma’s 2018-19 debut season anyway. Given the player he is in 2022, it seems mad that even three years ago Brighton did not really know what to do with Bissouma.
Was he a number 10? Was he a central midfielder? How could Hughton fit him into the Albion’s successful 4-4-1-1 formation when Stephens and Propper were better players at the time?
Hughton changed to 4-3-3 in January 2019, partly as a means of getting Bissouma into the team having treated him with kid gloves and eased him into life in England over those first six months.
Ditching 4-4-1-1 proved an unmitigated disaster as Brighton won just two of their final 19 matches, avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth. Hughton paid for that dismal run with his job.
Bissouma had the odd good game in that sequence, dominating the midfield in the 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace and the 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
He was famously caught on camera at full time of the trip to Emirates, laughing his head off as home players slumped to the floor having seen their hopes of Champions League qualification ended. That should put Bissouma in credit with Spurs fans before he arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Two other moments stand out from the second half of that 2018-19 involving Bissouma and neither of them were particularly good.
When Brighton lost 2-1 at Leicester City, Bissouma spent most of the game half-heartedly tracking Foxes opponents. His inclination to do any sort of hard work indirectly led to Demarai Gray opening the scoring when running onto a Youri Tielemans’ pass.
No player then summed up the Albion’s diabolical performance when losing 5-0 at the Amex to Plucky Little Bournemouth better than Bissouma. He spent 90 minutes wandering around aimlessly as the Cherries inflicted a heaviest home defeat on Brighton since 1973.
At that point in his career, Bissouma looked like was only interested in doing the fun stuff in football. This was in keeping with what Luc Watine from the LOSC Fans Club said when we sought a Lille view on Bissouma following his £15 million move from Stade Pierre Mauroy.
“You may laugh at this, but he has the same characertistics as Paul Pogba does,” said Monsieur Watine. “If he sorts out his behaviour, he could become a massive player.”
“The only negative is that his head isn’t always in the right place. He was our probably our best player, but not our most important. That again is because of his attitude.”
“He made some bad decisions and that meant that coaches didn’t feel they could completely trust him. He has the potential to be the best player in any team if he learns.”
And learn he did. Bissouma missed the African Cup of Nations and the start of the 2019-20 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
It was later revealed that Bissouma nearly died during the operation, not waking up for 13 hours after the procedure when he was only meant to be knocked out for two.
When he did return, new Brighton boss Graham Potter had a new role for Yves Bissouma – as a defensive midfielder. With Dale Stephens suspended for the trip to Palace in December 2019, Potter opted to fill the void with Bissouma.
This seemed absolutely bonkers at the time. In 18 months as an Albion player, Bissouma had shown little inclination that he had the positional maturity, the tactical brain or the discipline to sit in front of the back four and fulfil Stephens’ unglamorous yet vital position in the team.
Had Potter been smoking a crack pipe on the coach to Selhurst Park? No was the answer. Bissouma was an absolute revelation in the role, since when there has been no looking back.
Potter deserves a huge amount of credit for the development of Bissouma. The Brighton manager’s calling card might be his pretty football, but in reality Potter’s greatest attribute is the way he helps young players fulfil their potential.
Bissouma is the star pupil, although you suspect that the likes of Marc Cucurella, Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Tariq Lamptey will soon follow in his footsteps.
By the end of the 2019-20 season, Bissouma had become the most important player in Potterball. The 2020-21 campaign saw him a unanimous winner of every single Brighton Player of the Season award with everyone from Manchester United to Real Madrid to Paris Saint Germain to, er, Aston Villa interested in his signature.
Bissouma has become an utter joy to watch. He is dynamic. He covers a lot of ground. He can pick a pass. He knows how to tackle. He reads the game. He can carry the ball. He wins possession on the edge of the Albion box and seconds later will create an opportunity for a teammate.
Remember The Leeds United away in May? Brighton shocked the 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up by taking the lead and it was all down to Yves Bissouma in a move that showcased every bit of his talent.
The Leeds United looked to be breaking into a dangerous area just outside the Brighton box when Bissouma put himself into the right place at the right time to steal the ball.
He surged forward 50 yards up the pitch with no home player able to get close to him, making it to the edge of the Peacocks box and playing a perfectly weighted, defence splitting pass to Danny Welbeck. Dat Guy did the rest, beating Illan Meslier one-on-one with a lovely little dink.
The only possible criticism there is of Bissouma is that he does not score enough. Three Premier League goals in 112 appearances for Brighton and all of those have come from outside the area.
If Antonio Conte can get Bissouma popping up inside the area to contribute five or six goals a season, then his transformation into a world class box-to-box midfielder will be complete.
Rarely in Brighton history have we been lucky enough to watch a player with the talent of Yves Bissouma in the stripes. Mark Lawrenson was widely considered the greatest player to ever play for the Albion.
Speak to those who recall Lawrenson in the stripes and most will tell you Bissouma is better. To be described as the best Brighton player of all time is some accolade.
It is one which he thoroughly deserves though for that journey from unconvincing 21-year-old with a questionable attitude to 25-year-old with world football at his feet.
Yves Bissouma, it has been a pleasure.
